Noah Syndergaard has a major league fastball and curveball, but the Mets would like to see a little more “attitude” from their top pitching prospect.
According to club sources, the stud right-hander disappointed organizational officials with his approach in his first two starts for Triple-A Las Vegas, but looked better on Monday after he was challenged by manager Wally Backman to bring more of a presence to the mound.
“[Backman] told him to be more aggressive and asked him who he wants to become,” said a person with knowledge of the conversation. “Does he want to become a middle-of-the-road starter or top-of-the-line starter? [Syndergaard] said he wanted to be a No. 1. He went out with a little more of an attitude [on Monday].”
In that start, Syndergaard pitched five innings and allowed two runs on five hits against Fresno. Overall, he is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA in three starts for Las Vegas.
The Mets are expected to remain patient with Syndergaard, keeping him at Las Vegas until at least late June to help keep the clock from starting on his Super-2 arbitration status. Syndergaard’s next scheduled start is Saturday against El Paso.
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Scott Rice is the lone remaining lefty in the bullpen after John Lannan was outrighted to the minor leagues on Wednesday. Manager Terry Collins said he has a very specific role in mind for Rice this weekend against the Braves.
“You have to save him for a certain guy,” Collins said. “You’ve got the Braves coming in and it’s going to be Freddie Freeman. There are certain times you’ve got [Jason] Heyward batting leadoff and Freeman is hitting third and [Rice] is maybe going to get Heyward and the second hitter and Freeman. It’s got to be a certain situation or otherwise you kill him.”
Rice entered in the eighth inning against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday and retired the only batter he faced, Gerardo Parra.
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Collins said he is considering more playing time for backup catcher Anthony Recker, who homered on Wednesday after putting the Mets ahead of the Angels with a 13th-inning home run on Saturday. Starter Travis d’Arnaud is batting only .154 with one homer and two RBIs.